NOTE: “Anixnefseis” don’t agree with the views expressed in the article. Publish it to let readers know what really believe in the neighboring country about their origin and their identity.

The age long conflict between Greeks and Macedonians

The Macedonian-Greek conflict is a very complex issue. Lots of books have been written about Macedonia, but many of them simply serve to justify the aspirations, propaganda, and the partition of Macedonia of 1913, by the neighboring countries such as Greece. These sources are, therefore, biased. The Greek pages about Macedonia rely strictly on their very own Greek propaganda sources, which naturally makes them biased. In order to find the real truth about Macedonia, one has to rely on the independent and neutral sources when looking into history. This page is such case, which browses historical independent and neutral facts, to show the truth about Macedonia against the century-old Greek propaganda.

Macedonia seceded from Yugoslavia and became a sovereign state by a popular referendum held in September 1991 when the majority of voters chose independence. Greece immediately demanded from the international community not to recognize the country under its name Macedonia.

Greece alleges that:

1. The Macedonians should not be recognized as Macedonians because the Macedonians have been of Greek nationality since 2000 BC.
2. Those Macedonians whose language belongs to the Slavic family of languages, must not call themselves Macedonians because 4000 years ago, the Macedonians spoke Greek and still speak nothing but Greek.
3. Macedonia has no right to call itself by this name because Macedonia has always been and still is a region of Greece.

The Macedonians affirm that:

1. The ancient Macedonians were a distinct European people, conscious and proud of their nationality, their customs, their language, and their name. The same applies to the modern Macedonians today.
2. The ancient Macedonians regarded the ancient Greeks as neighbors, not as kinsmen. The Greeks treated the Macedonians as foreigners (“barbarians”) whose native language was Macedonian, not Greek.
3. Macedonia was never a region of Greece. On the contrary, ancient Greece was subjected to Macedonia. In 1913, modern Greece and her Balkan allies partitioned Macedonia. If today a portion of Macedonia belongs to Greece, it is by virtue of an illegal partition of the whole and occupation of a part of Macedonia.

These assertions will be shown to be true in the eyes of history proving the absurdity of Greek allegations against the people of Macedonia.

ANCIENT MACEDONIA AND GREECE

In the course of the second pre-Christian millennium, the ancient Greeks descended in several migratory waves from the interior of the Balkans to Greece. Some passed across the plain of Thessaly on their way south, while others went south through Epirus. More recent scholars point to Asia Minor as the original Greek homeland. There is no evidence that the ancient Greeks ever settled prehistoric Macedonia. Archeological evidence shows that ancient Macedonia lay beyond the cultural and ethnic borders of the Bronze Age Mycenaean Greek Civilization, which ends at the border of northern Thessaly (1400 – 1100 BC). The prehistoric Macedonians show a remarkable continuation of existing material culture.

Ancient Macedonia was home to many tribes. The ancient Macedonian tribes emerged from the Brygians or Phrygians. Some of the Brygians left Macedonia and migrated to Asia Minor where they changed their name to Phrygians and established a powerful Phrygian kingdom (Herodotus). When the Macedonian army under Alexander the Great will enter Phrygia centuries later, Philotas spoke of the connections between the Phrygians and the Macedonians, by calling the Macedonians “Phrygians” (Curtius).

Greek migrants settled few coastal areas of Macedonia, Thrace, and Illyria after they exhausted the possibilities of settlement in Asia Minor, Italy, France, Spain and Scythia (Ukraine and Russia). However, they did not consider Macedonia especially attractive for permanent settlement. Neither did the Macedonians welcome them as open-heartedly as did the Italians and Scythians. By the middle of the fourth century BC, the Greek settlers were expelled from Macedonia and their cities, including Aristotle’s native Stragira, razed to the ground by the Macedonian kingPhilip II (360-336). Aristotle died in exile in Greece.

The ancient Macedonians regarded the Greeks as potentially dangerous neighbors, never as kinsmen. The Greeks stereotyped the Macedonians as “barbarians” and treated them in the same bigoted manner in which they treated all non-Greeks. Herodotus, the Father of History, relates how the Macedonian king Alexander I(498-454 BC), a Philhellene (that is “a friend of the Greeks” and logically a non-Greek), wanted to take a part in the Olympic games. The Greek athletes protested, saying they would not run with a barbarian. Historian Thucydidis also calls the Macedonians barbarians, and so did Thracymachus who called Archelaus a barbarian who enslaved Greeks. Demosthenes, the great Athenian statesman and orator, spoke of Philip II as:

“… not only no Greek, nor related to the Greeks, but not even a barbarian from any place that can be named with honors, but a pestilent knave from Macedonia, whence it was never yet possible to buy a decent slave.”[Third Philippic, 31]

The Macedonian “barbarian” defeated Greece at the battle of Chaeronea in August 338 BC and appointed himself “Commander of the Greeks”. This battle had established Macedonian hegemony over Greece and this date is commonly taken as the end of Greek history and the beginning of the Macedonian era. Greece did not regain its independence until 1827 AD.

In 335 BC, Philip’s son Alexander campaigned toward the Danube, to secure Macedonia’s northern frontier. On rumors of his death, a revolt broke out in Greece with the support of leading Athenians. Alexander marched south covering 240 miles in two weeks. When the revolt continued he sacked Thebes, killing 6,000 people and enslaving the survivors. Only the temples and the house of the poet Pindar were spared.

The Ancient Macedonian Language

The Macedonians spoke their own native language which was unrecognizable by the Greeks. The very label barbarian literally means a person who does not speak Greek. Though Alexander spoke also Greek, loved Homer, and respected his tutor Aristotle, there is much evidence that he hated the Greeks of his day, just like his father Philip II. Philip had razed to the ground the Greek cities on Macedonian territory (including all 32 Greek cities in Chalcidice) and enslaved their inhabitants. Alexander the Great thoroughly destroyed Thebes. His Asian empire has not once been described as “Greek”, but is correctly called Macedonian for he won it with an army of 35,000 Macedonians and only 7,600 Greeks, and similar numbers of Thracians and Illyrians who were all forced to fight with their Macedonian overlords. The overwhelming number of Greeks however, 50,000 in total (Curtius), had however, distinguished themselves on the side of the Persians and fought fiercely till the end against the Macedonians. For instance, at the battle of Granicus there were 20,000 Greeks, out of which the Macedonians killed 18,000 and the 2,000 survivors were sent in chains to Macedonia (Arrian, Curtius). Arrian specifically speaks of the “old racial rivalry” between Macedonians and Greeks that characterized this battle. At the battle of Issus, there were 30,000 Greeks on the side of the Persians to fight Alexander, and their survivors also fought at Gaugamela along with the Albanians and the Persians, against the Macedonians.

The question of the use of the ancient Macedonian language was raised by Alexander himself during the trial of Philotas, one of his generals accused of treason. This is what Alexander has said to Philotas:

“The Macedonians are about to pass judgement upon you; I wish to know weather you will use their native tongue in addressing them.” Philotas replied: “Besides the Macedonians there are many present who, I think, will more easily understand what I shell say if I use the same language which you have employed.” Than said the king: “Do you not see how Philotas loathes even the language of his fatherland? For he alone disdains to learn it. But let him by all means speak in whatever way he desires, provided that you remember that he holds out customs in as much abhorrence as our language” (Curtius).

The trial of Philotas took place in Asia before a multiethnic public, which has understood Greek as it was then a common language, like English today. But Alexander spoke Macedonian with his Macedonians (the language he accuses Philotas of loathing) and used Greek in addressing the west Asians. Like Carthagenian, Illyrian, and Thracian, ancient Macedonian was not recorded in writing. However, on the bases of about a hundred glosses, Macedonian words noted and explained by Greek writers, some place names from Macedonia, and a few names of individuals, most scholars believe that ancient Macedonian was a separate Indo-European language. Evidence from phonology indicates that the ancient Macedonian language was distinct from ancient Greek.

THE ROMAN OCCUPATION

Both Macedonia and Greece were annexed by the Romans after the battle of Pydna in 168 BC. It is significant that the Greeks again fought against the Macedonians during the Macedonian Wars, on the side of the Romans. The Macedonians were asked to evacuate from the whole of Greece and withdrew to Macedonia by the Romans, and the Greek fought against the Macedonian army and its king Philip V until their final defeat (Polybius, Livy). After the end of the Macedonian kingdom, Latin was the official language in Roman Macedonia from 168 BC until the demise of Roman rule at the end of the sixth century AD.

SLAV SETTLEMENTS IN MACEDONIA, GREECE, THRACE, AND ILLYRIA

In the 6th  century, the Slavs penetrated Illyria, Thrace, Macedonia, and Greece. The Slavs settled lands as far as Peloponnesus and the Aegean islands, and some of the Slavic tribes in Greece remained unconquered for centuries. During the following centuries, the Slavs mixed with the original Macedonians, Greeks, Thracians, and Illyrians, and thus laid the foundations to the modern nations of the Balkans, and their modern languages.

Today’s modern Macedonian language has both ancient Macedonian and Slavic background. How much modern Macedonian is based upon ancient Macedonian is impossible to say since we do not have many ancient Macedonian words that have survived, except about 150 glosses. Yet, ancient Macedonian words are still present in modern Macedonian. Alexander’s infantry peshatairoi literally means “armed walking men” in modern Macedonian (peshatari). Hammond says that the ancient Macedonians called their commander tchelniku, which again means in modern Macedonian “somebody who leads” (chelniku). The Macedonian prodromoi, were the openers in the battles of Alexander the Great. Today in modern Macedonian this means “somebody who penetrates” (prodir), etc. Many ancient Macedonian names are still present among today’s Macedonians, and many ancient Macedonian customs have the ancients have described have survived as well among today’s Macedonians. The memory of Philip II and Alexander the Great echoes in the Macedonian folklore.

The modern Macedonian language was systemized in the middle of the ninth century by SS Cyril and Methodius, the two Macedonian brothers from the largest Macedonian city of Salonica. This language has functioned as the principal literary, liturgical, and colloquial language of Macedonia ever since. This period of the Macedonian history set the foundations for the development of the modern Macedonian nation and in the centuries after the coming of the Slavs, the Macedonians continue to exist in Byzantine sources as nation. Macedonia resisted the settlement attacks by the Armenian and Syrian dynasties, who held power in New Rome (Byzantium), and by the nomadic Bulgarians. From 1014 to 1204, Macedonia was part of the multi-cultural Byzantine Empire. In the next two centuries, the Macedonians fought foreign invaders, adventurers, and bandits who failed to dominate their land, apart from the Serbs and the Bulgarians who briefly held it. In the fifteenth century, the Ottoman Turks succeeded in conquering all of Macedonia, Greece, and the rest of the Balkans, and enforced their 500-year old rule.

MACEDONIA IN THE 19th CENTURY

Greek, Serbian, and Bulgarian Independence

In 1827, the European powers intervened on behalf of the Greek rebels and forced the Turks to grant them independence. The same powers, established the first modern Greek state, chose Prince Otto of Bavaria to be the “King of the Hellenes”, and sent him to Athens. Serbia freed herself also from the Turkish rule, while Russia declared war on Turkey to help Bulgaria gain its independence.

San Stefano and Berlin Conferences

The war between Russia and Turkey ended on March 3, 1878, with the peace settlement of San Stefano. The Turks had to agree to the formation of the new Bulgarian state, to also include all of Macedonia but the city of Salonika. Russia was hoping that greater Bulgaria with Macedonia would give her the strategic exit on the Aegean Sea, but she encountered fierce resistance from Austria-Hungary and England that saw their interests on the Balkans endangered. On July 13, 1878 with the Berlin Conference, they forced Russia to give up her dream and the San Stefano agreement was revised. Macedonia was returned to the Ottoman Empire. From this moment, Macedonia became a battleground where the interests not only of the Balkan states, but also of the Great Powers, collide.

The Macedonian and Greek Orthodox Churches

The Ohrid Archiepiscopy was founded as a separate church in 995 to care for the religious needs of the Orthodox Macedonians. However, under the influence of the Greek Orthodox church, the Turkish sultan abolished the Macedonian church in 1767. The Greek Orthodox church was now able to enforce its religious teachings in Greek as the only Orthodox church to exist in the Balkans. Greece hoped to spread her influence and propaganda through the newly opened Greek schools, with a goal to Hellenize the population of Macedonia. But as their influence grew bigger, so did the resistance of the Macedonians. On March 7, 1851, the residents of Enidje-Vardar (today in Greece) signed a petition, for replacement of the teachings in Greek with Macedonian. In 1859, in Kukush was formed the resistance movement against the Hellenization that quickly spread to Voden (Edessa), Kostur (Kastoria), Lerin (Florina), and the rest of southern Macedonia.

Balkan and Neutral Statistics on the Population of Macedonia

Adding to the Greek influence, the Bulgarians opened their schools in Macedonia in 1871, and the Serbs followed shortly after. This is the beginning of the so-called “Macedonian Question”. The new independent Balkan states used those schools to propagate how the Macedonians do not exist, and how Macedonia was populated only by Greeks, Bulgarians, and Serbs. Ethnographers, historians, and writers begun writing books in favor of this or that propaganda. Many of them did not even visit Macedonia, while those who did already had a written scenario. Their presence there was only a simple formality. The Turkish statistics made the picture more confusing as the Turks registered the people based on religion, not on ethnic background.  Table 1 gives an excellent proof of those Balkan speculations surrounding Macedonia:

Table 1. Greek, Bulgarian, and Serbian Statistics of Macedonia’s population

It is more than obvious that all the views coming from the Macedonia’s neighbors which sharply contradict eachother, are biased. They all claim their people in Macedonia to justify their well-planned aspirations. It is important to note that both the Bulgarian and Serbian views agree that the Greeks in Macedonia represent only a small minority of 10%. The Greek ethnographer Nikolaides, on the other hand, claims three times bigger number than his colleagues in Belgrade and Sofia. However, the most important about Nikolaides is that he recognizes the Macedonian Slavs as a separate nation, separate from the Bulgarians and the Serbs, to be part of population of Macedonia. And although he tries hard to lower the numbers of those Macedonian Slavs, he still comes up with a convincing proof of their existence.

This is the time when many European slavists, ethnographers, and historians, are also attracted to visit Macedonia and conduct their own investigations. Therefore, to find the unbiased population numbers in Macedonia, we have to rely on neutral and independent statistics:

Table 2. Independent and Neutral European Statistics of Macedonia’s Population

Although the Macedonians are referred as “Macedonian Slavs”, the main point of the statistics is the fact that they are recognized as distinct nation with cultural and historical right over their country Macedonia in which they are overwhelming majority. The reluctance to refer to them for what they are (simply as Macedonians), is explained by the overemphasizing of the contemporary Greek vs. Slavic (Serb and Bulgarian) rivalry over Macedonia in which the westerners desired to make the note that the Macedonians were more “Slavs” then “Greeks” – thus resulting in the use of the term “Macedonian Slavs” to distinguish them from all but still indicate their closer relation to their northern then southern neighbors, as interestingly was the case with the ancient Macedonians and their closer relations with the Thracians and Illyrians then with the ancient Greeks.

Yet the term “Macedonian Slavs” is erroneous since the Macedonians, although conscious of their ancient Macedonian roots and Slav admixture, did not specifically call themselves “Macedonians Slavs”, but Macedonians as the documents over the last 2,500 years show. The same “Macedonian Slavs” mistake was again repeated by some western media, as the Albanian terrorists attacked Macedonia in March of 2001, and again it was done deliberately.  This deliberate bias is again there, unfortunately because of the political situation and the western media’s inclination towards the goals of the Albanian terrorism for “Greater Albania”.  As at the beginning of the 20th century, the Macedonians showed their outrage at the beginning of the 21st century of this racial insult and publicly instead that their nationality be respected. Not only the Macedonians all over the world vigorously accused the western media for racial bias, but also did various western independent and non-government organizations. That referring to the Macedonians as “Macedonian Slavs” was a mistake was publicly acknowledged by BBC which apologized and withdrew its reporter Paul Wood precisely for his bias reporting, and since continued to rightfully refer to the Macedonians for what they have always been – Macedonians.

From the two above tables one can easily notice that the number of Greeks in Macedonia according to the neutral authors also aligns with the numbers given by the Serb and Bulgarian authors. This is a proof that the Greeks before the partition of Macedonia, were indeed a small minority, only 10% from the total population. This fact certainly does not give them the copyright of the name Macedonia. Dr. Ostreich, Gersin, and Roussos, are only a few of the many neutral authors to prove the groundless speculations of the Balkan counties. They proved that Macedonia belongs to a separate nation, which proves that the Bulgarians and the Serbs have than simply substituted the numbers of the Macedonians for theirs. Another Austrian, Karl Hron explained why that is unjustified:

“According to my own studies on the Serb-Bulgarian conflict I came to the conclusion that the Macedonians looking at their history and language are a separate nation, which means they are not Serbs nor Bulgarians, but the descendants of those Slavs who populated the Balkan peninsula long before the Serb and Bulgarian invasions, and who later did not mix with any of those other two nations…” and:

“… the Macedonian language according to its own laws in the development of the voices, and its own grammatical rules, forms one separate language”.

There were even Greek and Bulgarian writers to support what Karl Hron has written. One such example is the Bulgarian slavist and ethnographer P. Draganov, who in his studies of 1887-1894 and 1903, proved the existence of the Macedonians and the Macedonian language as a distinct language. Here is what Henry Brailsford had said about the Macedonians in “Macedonia: its Races and their Future“.

“Are the Macedonians Serbs or Bulgars? The question is constantly asked and dogmatically answered in Belgrade and Sofia. But the lesson of history is obviously that there is no answer at all. They are not Serbs, for their blood can hardly be purely Slavonic… On the other hand, they can hardly be Bulgarians… They are very probably very much what they were before either a Bulgarian or a Serbian Empire existed – a Slav people derived from various stocks, who invaded the peninsula at different periods.”

At the time of the emergence of the so-called Macedonian question, and the aspirations of the Macedonian neighbors for occupation of the country, the famous Macedonian Gjorgi Pulevski wrote in 1875:

“People who originate from one and the same race, speak the same language, live together in harmony, and have the same customs, songs and mentality, constitute a nation, and the place where they live is their homeland. In this way, the Macedonians are a nation and their homeland is Macedonia” and,

“I am not Bulgarian, nor Greek, nor Tzintzar, I am pure Macedonian as were Philip and Alexander the Macedonian and Aristotle Philosopher”

Pulevski was right back in 1875.  He was conscious and aware that the Macedonians were a distinct nation, a fact that the documents of the last 25 centuries clearly show.

Macedonian Uprisings

The Macedonians will first start an organized resistance in the XIX century, to free their land from the 500 year old Turkish yoke. The uprisings in Kresna and Razlog (1878 – 1879), although unsuccessful, gained sympathies of many intellectuals in Europe. Among them was W.E. Gladstone who wrote:

“… Next to the Ottoman government nothing can be more deplorable and blameworthy than jealousies between Greek and Slav and plans by the states already existing for appropriating other territory. Why not Macedonia for the Macedonians as well as Bulgaria for the Bulgarians and Serbia for the Serbians.”

Gladstone was three times elected Prime Minister of England (1868 -1874; 1880 – 1885 and 1893 – 1894). He supported the Macedonian nation in its quest for freedom. Perhaps Macedonia would have gained its independence had this man been once again elected Prime Minister during the big Ilinden Uprising on August 2, 1903. Left without any support, the uprising was crushed by the Turks, followed by the massacre on the innocent Macedonian population.

THE PARTITION OF MACEDONIA AND ITS CONSEQUENCES

On October 8, 1912, the First Balkan War begun. Montenegro, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Greece attacked the European positions of the Ottoman Empire. More than 100,000 Macedonians also took active part and contributed in driving the Turks out of Macedonia. Turkey capitulated soon, but Macedonia did not free itself. The victorious Balkan kingdoms convened in Bucharest in August 1913 to divide the spoils. The partition of Macedonia is best illustrated with the following maps:

Macedonia within Turkey before 1912 and its partition in 1913 among Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Albania

Greece was awarded Aegean Macedonia and renamed it to “Northern Greece”; Bulgaria annexed Pirin Macedonia and abolished the Macedonian name, and Serbia took over Vardar Macedonia and renamed it to “Southern Serbia”.The same year, N. Pasich of Serbia and E. Venizelos of Greece agreed on the newly formed Greek-Serbian (later Yugoslavian) border, so that there would be “only Serbs to the North and only Greeks to the South”, and no “Macedonians” on either side. Thus, the politics to assimilate the Macedonians of Aegean Macedonia had already begun.

The Greek Atrocities in Aegean Macedonia

1. On June 21, 22, and 23, 1913, the Greek army completely burned to the ground the city of Kukush (today Kilkis), known for its resistance against Hellenism in the XIX century and the birthplace of Gotse Delchev.
2. Between June 29 and 25, 39 villages in the Kukush area were also burned down.
3. On June 23 and 24, the city of Serres (today Serrai) was set on fire where 4000 houses perished. In the Serres gymnasium the Greeks murdered about 200 people.
4. During these days the larger portion of Strumica was also destroyed by the Greek army.
5. Between June 23 and 30, many villages in the Drama and Serres districts were burned down.
6. From June 27 to July 6 all Macedonian quarts of Salonika were set on fire.

The Carnegie Commission composed of members from USA, Germany, Russia, France, Austria, and England, witnessed the Greek atrocities when visited Aegean Macedonia. Their final conclusion was that the Greek army has burned to the ground 170 villages with over 17,000 houses.

Since 1913, official Greece has been trying to banish native Macedonian names of villages, towns, cities, rivers, and lakes in Aegean Macedonia. For example, the little stream which issues from Mount Olympus and flows into the Aegean Sea is labeled Mavroneri (“black water”) on the maps made by Greek cartographers after 1913. However, the same river appears as Crna Reka, a native Macedonian name meaning “black river” on the maps made before 1913. Kukush has been dropped for Kilkis and Serres for Serai, together with at least 300 other places all over Macedonia.

Forced Change of the Ethnic Structure of Aegean Macedonia

The presence of the Macedonians in Aegean Macedonia could not allow Greece to claim that land to be Greek and only Greek. Since it was proven that they resisted the Hellenization, Greece decided to drive them out of Macedonia. Greece made agreements with Bulgaria (signed 10/27/19), and Turkey (1/30/23 in Lausanne), for exchange of population. This provided for the Macedonians of Aegean to leave for Bulgaria, while the Greeks in Bulgaria and Turkey settled in the Aegean part of Macedonia. These measures changed the ethnic character of the Aegean Macedonia. According to the “Great Greek Encyclopedia”, there were 1,221,849 newcomers against 80,000 “slavophones”. The “Ethnic Map of Greek Macedonia Showing the Ratio Between Various Ethnic Elements in 1912 and 1926,” claims there were 119,000 “bulgarisants” in 1912, and 77,000 in 1926. The Greek ethnic map of Aegean Macedonia was submitted to the League of the nations by the Greek government. The League of the Nations had not visited Aegean Macedonia and did not participate at all in conducting this statistics. Greece here refers to the Macedonians as “bulgarisants”, which means “those who pretend to be Bulgarians” and obviously non-Bulgarians. However, Greece uses many other names in falsifying the identity of the Macedonians. Slavophones, Slav Macedonians, Makedoslavs, Slav Greeks, and Bulgarisants, are only some of the names that prove Greece’s unpreparess in this mean falsification of the Macedonian people and language. There are also other Greek sources that contradict the previous numbers of the Macedonians in Greece. The Athenian newspaper, “Message d’ Aten” wrote on February 15, 1913, that the number of “Bulgar-echarhists” was 199,590 contradicting with those 119,000 of the “Ethnic Map of Greek Macedonia”.

How many Macedonians remained in Greece?

When the Bulgarian and Serbian views are added, the confusion gets only bigger. According to the Bulgarian Rumenov, in 1928 there were total of 206,435 “Bulgarians”, while the Serb Bora Milojevich claimed 250,000 “Slavs” in Aegean Macedonia. Belgrade’s “Politika” in its 6164 issue of June 24, 1925 gave three times greater numbers for the Macedonians in Greece than official Athens:

“The Greek government must not complain that we are pointing to the fact that the Macedonian population of West Macedonia – 250,000 – 300,000 – is the most unfortunate national and linguistic minority in the world, not only because their personal safety in endangered, but also because they have no church nor school in their own language, and they had them during the Turkish rule.”

The speculations with the real number of Macedonians is obvious again. Their true number remains disputable in the Balkan documents, same as it was the case before the partition of 1912. Unfortunately, the Greek government would not allow anybody, including neutral observers to conduct statistical studies. Forced to leave, the Macedonians emigrated in large numbers to Australia, Canada, and the USA. As a result, there are about 300,000 Macedonians that presently live in Australia. In the city of Toronto, Canada, there are about 100,000. The present Macedonian colonies in these counties are represented mostly by the descendants of those Aegean Macedonians who settled there in the 1920’s.

According to the “Ethnic Map of Greek Macedonia Showing the Ratio Between Various Ethnic Elements in 1912 and 1926”, only 42,000 left their homes. If we take the statistical tables of the Balkan and neutral sources above, by 1913 in the whole of Macedonia lived around 1,250,000 Macedonians. In the Aegean part (51%) which Greece took after 1913, half of the Macedonian nation remained under Greek rule – that would be 625,000 people. If up to 1926 42,000 out of these 625,000 left, in the Greek part of Macedonian thereafter remained 583,000 Macedonians.

Recognition of the Macedonian Language by Greece

After World War I and under the international law, Greece signed the agreement to provide education in the languages of the minorities that remained in its borders. As a result, Sakerlarou Press in Athens printed a primer in the Macedonian language called “Abecedar” in 1924. It was intended for the Macedonian children in the soon to be opened new schools and it was a clear recognition of the existence of the Macedonians in Greece. The Greek government, however, later changed its position and the primer never reached the schools.

The Macedonian Language Forbidden in Greece

The Englishmen B. Hild who traveled through Aegean Macedonia in 1928 has recorded that the Greeks are chasing not only the alive Macedonians, to whom they sometimes refer to as “bulgarophones” and sometimes as “slavophones”, but also the graves of dead Macedonians, by destroying all non-Greek signs on the crosses. The use of the Macedonian language was forbidden and punishable when dictator Metaxis gained power in Greece. Between 1936 and 1940, some 5,250 Macedonians were persecuted for speaking their native language. The official order of the National Garde in Nered (Polipotamos):

“All residents from two to fifty years of age are forbidden to use any other language but Greek. I direct special attention to the youth. Anyone to break this law will be punished.”

But as the facts point out, the Macedonians were not wiped out from Aegean Macedonia in spite of the many assimilation attempts by the Greek government. One such fact is the ethnic map of Europe in The Times Atlas of World History, where the Macedonians presented as separate nationality cover the territory of complete Macedonia, including Aegean Macedonia in Greece.

Here is another map, part of a larger Balkan map and made by German ethnographers, first published after World War I, which proves that the ethnic Macedonians are the majority in Aegean Macedonia while the Greeks consist only a small minority.

The Macedonians on this map (Mazedonier in German, and presented in green with stripes), populate the largest area of Aegean Macedonia, including the cities of Kostur (Kastoria), Lerin (Florina), Voden (Edessa), Ber (Veroia), and Salonika (Thessaloniki), the largest Macedonian city. This map is yet another clear proof that the Macedonians do exist as large minority in Greece. It is also very important to note, that southernmost river in Macedonia which many ethnographers consider to be Macedonia’s border with Greece, is labeled on this map with the native Macedonian name Wistritza (Bistrica). However, Greek maps that date after the partition of Macedonia, have changed this name with the Greek Aliakmon. Another examples on wiping off the native Macedonian names from this map, would also be the second largest city in Aegean Macedonia, Serres which Greece changed to Serrai later, the river Mesta which was changed to Nestos, or the lake Beschik which today appears as Volvi.

The CIA Ethnic Map of Balkans and Macedonia is yet another proof that the ethnic Macedonians today represent a big national minority in northern Greece or Aegean Macedonia. According to this CIA source, the Macedonians live in all parts of Macedonia: today’s Republic of Macedonia, Pirin Macedonia in Bulgaria, and Aegean Macedonia in Greece.

Macedonians Oppressed in Greece

Following are several documents regarding the oppression of the Macedonians in Aegean Macedonia before the World War II. They appeared in “Rizospastis”, a newspaper published by the Greek Communist Party (KKE).

April 15, 1934

Serres (Serrai). The town square was covered with leaflets with revolutionary proclamations calling upon the soldiers to straggle for a solution to their problems and against the beastly reign of terror. Officers imprisoned the soldiers who read the leaflets… The most barbarous methods were used against us Macedonians, soldiers of the 6th Heavy Artillery Regiment. The majority of us are illiterate, we do not know Greek and therefore we frequently do not understand their orders. The officers tried to teach us to read and write, but their efforts were abandoned too soon and were performed so improperly than none of us learned anything.

June 6, 1934

Voden (Edessa). Here, in Voden, and in our whole district, in the heart of Macedonia, here where we Macedonians do not know any other language but our own Macedonian, various agents of the Greek capitalism fore us to speak Greek. Consequently, they threaten us constantly with expulsion to Bulgaria, they call us Komitajis, expropriate our fields which we have drenched with our sweet just to produce a piece of bread. In addition, they deprive us of the freedom which our fathers won after many years of struggle in which they gave their lives for the liberation of Macedonia. We live under the yoke of Greek capitalism, literally as slaves. In the elementary schools, the young children who speak their own language are beaten every day. Particularly here in Voden, the henchman and fascist Georgiadis beats the children if they speak their Macedonian tongue.

June 8, 1934

Lerin (Florina). It has been some time now that the whole bourgeois press launched a campaign against the Macedonian people. It represents a part of the fascist and military measures which the Government of Tsaldaris carries out in its orientation towards an increasingly brutal oppression of the people’s masses in Macedonia. The Chief of the Security Forces here, Karamaunas, whenever he meets us on the streets threatens us with the words: “You are Bulgarians and if by any chance I discover any sort of organized movement, I will beat you without mercy and than I will deport you.” We Macedonians should rise with greater courage and by means of increased activities should reject this campaign because it brings us an even more brutal oppression, starvation, misery, and war.

MACEDONIA AND GREECE AFTER WORLD WAR II

The end of World War II brought both joy and sadness to the Macedonian people. Joy because the Macedonians were finally recognized as a distinct people with their own nationality, language, and culture in Yugoslavia. The Republic of Macedonia was not anymore “Southern Serbia” but an integral part of federal Yugoslavia. The possible unification of all three parts of Macedonia failed however as Great Britain intervened and blocked that idea, afraid that the Macedonian unification will endanger her interests on the Balkan peninsula.

The Greek Civil War

During the Greek Civil War that followed World War II, the Macedonians of Aegean Macedonia fought on the side of the Greek Communist Party (KKE) who promised them their rights after the war. After two years of KKE’s success in the civil war, the United States decided to side up against them, afraid that Greece would become another communist country. With the military support that came from the United States and Great Britain, the communists lost the war, and the Macedonians once again did not get their human rights.

The Yugoslav – Greek Relations

In the years following the war, Yugoslavia urged Greece many times to recognize the Macedonian minority in Aegean Macedonia. The Greek paper “Elefteros Tipos” wrote that in September of 1986 the Prime-Minister Papandreu in the talks with Yugoslav presidency member Stane Dolanc has agreed to recognize the Macedonian language as one of the official languages in Yugoslavia. As a result of those talks, on March 16, 1988, the Greek Prime-Minister Papandreu and the Foreign Affairs’ Karolos Papulias, even agreed to recognize the Macedonian language in Greece. However, the bankers affair “Koskotas” emerged, the PASOK government fell, and the documents were never signed. Greece continued to refer to the Macedonians as “Slavophones” who speak an idiom.

THE MACEDONIAN – GREEK RELATIONS

When the Republic of Macedonia seceded from Yugoslavia and became independent in 1991, Greece urged the world not to recognize Macedonia under that name because Macedonia’s Constitution “threatens the security and integrity of Greece”. What Greece is referring to is the Article 49 of the Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia which states:

“The Republic of Macedonia cares for the statue and rights of those persons belonging to the Macedonian people in neighboring countries, as well as Macedonian ex-parties, assists their cultural development and promotes links with them.”

Athens sees Article 49 to be a direct threat for the security of Greece because Macedonia cares for the people in Greece who consider themselves Macedonians? How can a country of two million be a danger to Greece’s ten million? Furthermore, Greece has also similar article in her Constitution, as any other country in the world, to care for her minorities in the neighboring countries. Should Albania, Bulgaria, and Turkey, urge the world not to recognize Greece because of her Constitution to care for her minorities in these neighboring countries? What Greece is doing is against the international law. Greece demands that Macedonia change its Constitution because there are “no Macedonian people” in Greece but this will be proven to be a lie once again, when Human Rights Watch / Helsinki, visited Aegean Macedonia in 1994.

Violation of the Human Rights of the Macedonians in Greece

The 80-page human rights violation report on Greece entitled “Denying Ethnic Identity – Macedonians of Greece” was published in May 1994. After visiting Aegean Macedonia, The Human Rights Watch/Helsinki concluded:

“Although ethnic Macedonians in northern Greece make up large minority with their own language and culture, their internationally recognized human rights and even their existence are vigorously denied by the Greek government. Free expression is restricted; several Macedonians have been persecuted and convicted for their peaceful expression of their views. Moreover, ethnic Macedonians are discriminated against by the government’s failure to permit the teaching of the Macedonian language. And ethnic Macedonians, particularly rights activists, are harassed by the government – followed and threatened by the security forces – and subjected to economic and social pressure resulting from this harassment. All of these actions have led to a marked climate of fear in which a large number of ethnic Macedonians are reluctant to assert their Macedonian identity or to express their views openly. Ultimately, the government is pursuing every avenue to deny the Macedonians of Greece their ethnic identity.”

The Helsinki Watch has, therefore, proven that there is nothing wrong with the Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia. The Macedonians indeed exist in Greece as a large minority and, therefore, Macedonia has the full right to care for them. Helsinki Watch found the Greek government guilty for oppressing the Macedonian minority and demanded they be given their basic human rights to which they are entitled to. Another human rights organization, Amnesty International, also urged the Greek government to respect the human rights of the ethnic Macedonians. The European Union has furthermore recognized the Macedonian language as one of the languages spoken within the EU borders. The Republic of Macedonia is not a member of the European Union, but Aegean Macedonia in Greece, is within those borders.

The Greek Embargo

Greece slapped a trade embargo on Macedonia because of the refusal of the Macedonian President Gligorov to rename the country, nation, and language, and change the constitution.The embargo had devastating impact on Macedonia’s economy. Macedonia was cut-off from the port of Salonika and became landlocked because of the UN embargo on Yugoslavia to the north, and the Greek embargo to the south. Greece said it will remove the embargo only if Macedonia satisfies her demands. This blackmail was not acceptable to the Republic of Macedonia which considered the embargo illegal. At the same time, Greece withdrew from the Greek – Macedonian talks, monitored by the UN as a mediator, and blocked any acceptance of Macedonia in the international institutions by using its power to veto new members.

CONCLUSION

The claims put forward by Greece that the ancient Macedonians were Greeks, that their native language was Greek, and that Macedonia had always been a region of Greece are all false. The historical truth is that Greece was inhabited by ancient Greeks, Macedonia by ancient Macedonians. Today, it is the modern Greeks and the modern Macedonians to occupy those lands. It is a total absurdity to hear the Greeks of today to claim they are the Macedonians, the Greek Macedonians, the only and true Macedonians. How can they be “the only and true Macedonians”, when today’s Greek population of Aegean Macedonia immigrated there just 80 years ago joining that small Greek minority of 10%? How can they overlook the atrocities they committed on the people who than, as centuries before, proudly called themselves Macedonians? What about the statistics and maps made by neutral and independent ethnographers, slavists, and writers, to prove the existence of the Macedonian nation? And finally, what about the ethnic Macedonians whose discrimination by the official Greek government was witnessed by the independent Human Rights Watch / Helsinki and Amnesty International in 1994?

The existence of the Macedonian nation and the ethnic Macedonian minority in Greece can not be questioned. There is, however, a great deal of irony surrounding the issue. In spite of the truth about Macedonia and the Macedonians, many Western countries have not yet recognized the Republic of Macedonia under its constitutional name but under the reference “Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”. This includes the United States which after the recognition, did not send an ambassador to Skopje for more than a year. Interestingly enough, this “freeze” coincides with the visit of the most powerful representatives of the Greek-American lobby to President Clinton in the White House, behind closed doors, and in the presence of Clinton’s adviser George Stefanopoulos, who himself, is a Greek-American.

How it is possible that the Western countries have chosen to follow “democratic” Greece where lies prevail over the truth? The European Court found the Greek embargo illegal and put Greece on trial, but did nothing to stop it while it was so harmful to the Macedonian economy. They never cared about the rights of the Macedonians in Greece while the Macedonians of the Aegean are still facing daily oppression and persecution. Finally, they still play that game for the Macedonia’s name, the way Greece wants them to. Yes, this is yet anotherproof that interests are stronger than the truth. Greece is a member of the European Union, NATO, an important ally that occupies a very strategic position. On the other hand, all other countries that do not belong to those organizations have recognized Macedonia under its constitutional name. Russia and China are among those countries. The question now is if the West is willing to risk losing Greece for the small landlocked Macedonia? But by standing silent on the issue, they are taking an active role in Greece’s politics.

Yet, on every atlas (like National Geographic), encyclopedia (like Britannica), newspaper (like New York Times), and TV media (like CNN), Macedonia is referred simply as Macedonia. Even the US Secretary of State Warren Christopher, and Defense Secretary William Perry, speak of Macedonians and refer to Macedonia as Macedonia. Matthew Nimitz, the US mediator in the Greek – Macedonian talks has said that “the country has an Constitutional name – Republic of Macedonia” and that besides the opposing of Greece, Macedonia was admitted at UN under the reference “former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”, but that is “only a reference and not name”. The truth about Macedonia slowly but surely is coming to the top, working towards a final end to the century-old shadow of Greek lies and propaganda. That is until the change of the Balkan policies and interests might push it all back to where it started. But regardless of everything, the Macedonians continue to exits on every part of divided Macedonia – the Republic of Macedonia, and the Macedonian parts which are today held by Greece and Bulgaria. They have survived as Macedonians for almost 3,000 years and nobody by renaming them will change the fact that they are and will remain Macedonians.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Karl Hron. Das Volksthum der Slaven Makedoniens. Wien, 1890.
2. P. Draganov. Makedonski Slavjanski Sbornik. St. Petersburg, 1894.
3. Spiridon Gopchevich. Makedonien und Altserbien. Wien, 1899
4. Dr. Cleonthes Nikolaides. Macedonien, die gesschichtliche Entwickelung der makedonischen Frage in Alterthum und in die neuren Zeit. Berlin, 1899.
5. Newspaper The Times, London. Saturaday, February 6, 1897 edition.
6. K. Gersin. Macedonian und das Turkische Problem. Wien, 1903.
7. Dr. K. Ostreich. Die Bevolkerung von Makedonien. Leipzig, 1905.
8. Dr. Karl Peucher. Statistische Angaben. Die Volker Macedoniens und Altserbiens. 1905.
9. Henry N. Brailsford. Macedonia, its Races and their Future. London, Metheuen and Co, first published in 1906.
10. Volker und Sprachenkarte der Balkan – Halbinsel vor den Krigen 1912-18. Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig.
11. Newspaper Message d’ Aten. Athens, February 15, 1913.
12. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Report of the International Commision to Inquire the Causes and Conduct of the Balkan Wars. Washington, 1914.
13. R.G.D. Laffan. The Serbs. New York, 1917.
14. League of the Nations. Ethnic Map of Greek Macedonia Showing the Ratio Between Various Ethnic Elements in 1912 and 1926. Lausanne, 1926.
15. Newspaper Politika. Edition 6369. Belgrade, January 5, 1926.
16. Andrew Roussos. The British Foreign Office and Macedonian National Identity 1918 – 1941.
17. Newspaper Rizospastis, ar.195 (7132), 4/12/34, p.3 and ar.89 (7026), 6/10/34, p.3 and ar.87, (7024), 6/8/34, p.1.
18. Dr. Vladimir Rumenov. Makedonski pregled. Sofia, 1941
19. Elisabeth Barker. Macedonia – Its Place in Balkan Power Politics. London, 1950.
20. Spoljnopoliticka Dokumentacija No 36. Belgrade, 1951.
21. Lazar Moysov. Macedonians in Aegean Macedonia. Skopje, 1953.
22. Hammond Incorporated. The Times Atlas of World History. Maplewood NJ, 1989. Copyright Times Books Limited, London.
23. Stoyan Prebicevich. Macedonia, Its People and History. The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1982.
24. Jacques Bacid, Ph.D. Macedonia Through the Ages. Columbia University, 1983.
25. Quantis Curtius Rufus. History of Alexander the Great of Macedon, VI. Harmondsworth, 1984.
26. Rand McNally and Co. Inc. The Random House Encyclopedia Random House, New York, 1990.
27. Jackson J. Spielvogel. Western CivilizationThe Pennsylvania State University, West Publishing Company, 1991.
28. Human Rights Watch / Helsinki. Denying Ethnic Identity – Macedonians of Greece, New York, 1994.
29. Newspaper Elefteros Tipos. Athens, September 20, 1994.
30. The Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia.

http://www.historyofmacedonia.org/MacedonianGreekConflict/conflict.html

JUN 22, 2018 @ 12:05 PM 75,747 

Ann Abel , CONTRIBUTORI know the difference between expensive travel and the truly luxurious  Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.

We all know that the best way to really know a city isn’t to go to the central square or major museums, or even the most tourist-trodden neighborhoods. What’s more interesting is discovering the up-and-coming neighborhoods where local creatives are settling in and setting up shop.

It’s especially important in cities where overtourism is becoming a problem, such as Barcelona and Amsterdam. Sure, walk down La Rambla or explore the inner canal belt, but then get out into the places where local life is really happening.

I asked some of my favorite travel experts for their tips on the best neighborhoods to explore right now. Here’s what’s on their radar.

Paula Mourenza for Culinary Backstreets

Sants, Barcelona

Barcelona: Sants

Earlier this year, the influential food travel and publishing company Culinary Backstreets declared 2018 the year of the neighborhood. Cofounder Ansel Mullins singles out Sants in Barcelona as one of his favorites. “Most locals know the Sants area as a place they pass through on their way to Barcelona’s main train station, but to us it represents something much deeper: a neighborhood where we can still experience the city’s original soul—culinary and otherwise,” wrote their local correspondent. “While other parts of Barcelona, especially its historic center, have had to contend with the effects of the city’s growing popularity, Sants has somehow managed to stay under the radar, allowing it to keep much of its traditional charm and way of life, while also being an inviting area for new ventures to give it a go. This is a place where you can still find old bodegas with wooden casks filled with bulk wine for sale, homey vermuterias where locals gather to chat over seafood tapas and family-run restaurants…. There’s a wonderful mix of traditional spots that have been around for generations and new restaurants and tapas bars opened up by innovative young chefs escaping high rents in the center of town.”

Forest City Washington

The Yards in Washington

Washington, D.C.: Navy Yard

“The Navy Yard area is the fastest growing neighborhood in Washington D.C., and it is slated to develop 3 million square feet for residential and office buildings, pedestrian space and retail and dining for 2030—as well as its first hotel, the Thompson,” says Melissa Biggs Bradley, the founder of Indagare. “With its waterfront location, industrial infrastructure and historic roots (it was established in 1799), the Navy Yard—or “the Yards”—has a cool factor that most other D.C. neighborhoods lack.” While the main attraction is still the Nationals’ baseball park, which hosts not only games but also popular events like a craft beer festival, the restaurant scene is gaining a strong following. Top tables include the microbrewery Blue Jacket, the upscale Italian Osteria Morini, the internationally focused Chloe and the highly inventive Ice Cream Jubilee,which offers grown-up flavors like honey lemon lavender and gin & tonic sorbet.

Black Tomato

IJ Hallen in Amsterdam Noord

Amsterdam: Amsterdam Noord

“Just 15 minutes by ferry from the city’s central station, Amsterdam Noord is a neighborhood on the rise, and rightfully so,” says Tom Marchant, the founder of Black Tomato. “Set amid old trams and multicolored shipping containers is NDSM, a hub for independent art galleries and lively watering holes. This provides serious visual endorphins and is an Instagrammers’ heaven.” Hotel Faralda, which has three rooms with “serious Wes Anderson vibes” suspended in a towering crane, is a quirky landmark in the NDSM community. And IJ Hallen is renowned as one of Europe’s largest and most unique flea markets.

Therese Mueller

Getsemani, Cartagena

Cartagena: Getsemani

Most tourists stay within the walls of the old city, but Biggs Bradley recommends this neighborhood just outside the walls. “It offers an authentic look at what life in the city is really like for locals,” she says. “Anchored by the Plaza Trinidad, a lively public square, Gestemani is not yet fully gentrified, and it is inhabited by families that have lived in the same house for multiple generations. Thus, there’s a very strong local culture and identity here.” Recent years have brought some stylish new additions, including cool cafes like Café del Mural, bars like Demente, tiny restaurants like Caffé Lunático, Malagana, and La Cocina de Pepina.

Ann Abel

Maboneng, Johannesburg

Johannesburg: Maboneng

“A no-go zone until the end of Apartheid in 1994, Johannesburg’s Maboneng has since transformed into a lively urban area with blossoming art and culinary scenes,” says Biggs Bradley. The compact neighborhood is known for cultural attractions like the Museum of African Design, Arts on Main—a complex that was previously a series of dilapidated buildings and now has many cool galleries—restaurants and boutiques. The culinary offerings are widely diverse, with restaurants that specialize in everything from Ethiopian cuisine to health food. “One of the best spots for a meal is Che Argentine Grill, which offers delicious specialties like empanadas and a live tango band on weeknights.”

Ann Abel

Plekhanov, Tbilisi

Tbilisi: Plekhanov

We can also call 2018 the year of Georgia. The former Soviet republic has become among the trendiest places to visit, and the capital of Tbilisi is always the first and last stop. The old town is charming, but both Mullins and Jonny Bealby of Wild Frontiers are more excited about Plekhanov. “It’s an area where native Tbilisians traditionally live, renowned for its old-style houses with beautiful doorways,” says Bealby. “It recently became more fashionable when the main avenue, Agmashenebeli, was renovated and especially when the Fabrika space opened. Once a Soviet sewing factory, this multifunctional space now houses cafes, bars, studios, shops and a hostel. This area is a mixture of young creatives and tourists, and there’s live music most evenings.” 

Wikipedia Commons

Casco Viejo, Panama City

Panama City: Casco Viejo

“In the 1990s, Casco Viejo was one of the city’s most dangerous neighborhoods, overrun by gangs, full of violence and turf wars,” notes Biggs Bradley. Now a staircase in the boutique American Trade Hotel has wallpaper that shows some of the original graffiti that was found in the abandoned buildings. “The fact that gritty gang slogans are today used as decoration in a designer hotel goes to show just how far Casco Viejo has come. The neighborhood buzzes with restoration and new openings, as the developers tackle building after colonial building.” Some can’t-miss addresses: Donde José, a chef’s table restaurant that’s one of the most upscale in the city; Fonda La Sexta, a pioneering restaurant that employs low-income women chefs; La Concordia, a new hotel with a great rooftop bar for sunset drinks; and Karavan, a one-stop shop for Panamanian-made gifts.

Trip by Skyscanner

Binh Tay market in Saigon’s District 5

Saigon: District 5

“Most visitors to Saigon spend their time in Districts 1 and 2,” explains Andrea Ross of Wild Frontiers. “However, to get away from the crowds and have a more local experience, we like to head to District 5. Here you’ll find Saigon’s Chinatown, as well as unique temples like Phuoc An Hoi Quan Pagoda, a colorful Taoist temple frequented by locals. The Binh Tay market is a local marvel, selling everything from fresh goods to car radios. At night the streets come alive with bars and restaurants offering live music. It feels like a throwback to old Saigon, and is a fun way to escape the more manicured central districts.”

Manteau Stam for Culinary Backstreets

Keramikos, Athens

Athens: Keramikos

This district is another favorite of Culinary Backstreets. Their Athens correspondent wrote, “Just a ten-minute walk from Athens’ buzzing historic center, the laidback Keramikos neighborhood seems to live in a magical world of its own,” writes their correspondent. “It’s a place where old and new, Greece’s storied past and often turbulent present, tradition and forward-looking creativity all coexist happily together. At the weekly street market, the neighborhood comes alive in a riot of sights, smells and flavors…. In recent years Keramikos’s low rents and old-time feel have lured creative young Athenians to the area, where they have opened inventive restaurants, bars and cafés along with galleries and theaters. Joining Keramikos’s rich trove of existing old-school establishments, these new spots have helped create one of the Athens’ most exciting dining and cultural scenes.”

Black Tomato

Seongsu-dong, Seoul

Seoul: Seongsu-dong

Marchant calls this neighborhood the “Brooklyn of Seoul, a buzzy hive for all things creative. The graffiti-adorned industrial warehouses have been revived as trendy hotspots, appealing to hipsters, photographers and foodies alike. House of Collections, an art group based in Seoul and New York City, has helped Seongsu-dong establish a thriving arts scene.” The most recent exhibition, Blowing Romance in Water Garden, was an Instagram hit. There are also eccentric and sustainability-focused eateries like Daelim Warehouse and Café Onion.

Adam Alexander Photography Courtesy of Choose Chicago

Pilsen, Chicago

Chicago: Pilsen

“Featuring streets lined with hip galleries and walls decorated with colorful murals dating from the 1970s, the Pilsen neighborhood on Chicago’s Lower West Side is a nest of cutting-edge culture and art,” says Biggs Bradley. “It’s been fostered by successive waves of Eastern European and Mexican immigrants, in addition to local artists and students, who have molded this fascinating area over the past century and a half. At the National Museum of Mexican Art, the 10,000-piece collection showcases the work of Mexican and Mexican-American artists. And there are a growing number of performance venues, art studios and trendy bars like the popular Punch House.

Black Tomato

Kalk Bay, Cape Town

Cape Town: Kalk Bay

“A seaside haven slightly removed from the bustle of Cape Town, the former fishing village Kalk Bay is attracting more than just the local surfer community” says Marchant. “Blanketed with quaint cafes, rustic fishing boats and colorful storefronts, this vibrant harbor neighborhood is recently the talk of the city. Olympia Café, a standby for locals, is an ideal launching pad for a day of False Bay coastline exploration. An intricate origami installation created by Kalk Bay local Sanae Sawada decorates the walls of the iconic café, which is just steps from the charming seal-invaded wharf.”

Follow me on Instagram: @abeltotravel

https://www.forbes.com/sites/civicnation/2018/06/21/this-is-your-superpower-celebrating-and-supporting-students-who-beat-the-odds/#4467985c446d

By Emil AvdalianiJuly 4, 2018

BESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 882, July 4, 2018

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: China and the US have different geopolitical imperatives, so tensions are bound to increase between the two powers. Russia’s position in the nascent confrontation will be important to watch, as it is simultaneously under pressure from the West and in the shadow of Chinese economic strength. Russia will likely see US-China competition as providing an opportunity to improve its own geopolitical position.

China, which is poised to become a powerful player in international politics thanks to its economic rise and concurrent military development, has strategic imperatives that clash with those of the US. Beijing needs to secure its procurement of oil and gas resources, which are currently most available through the Malakka Strait. In an age of US naval dominance, the Chinese imperative is to redirect its economy’s dependence – as well as its supply routes – elsewhere.

That is the central motivation behind the almost trillion dollar Belt and Road Initiative, which is intended to reconnect the Asia-Pacific with Europe through Russia, the Middle East, and Central Asia. At the same time, Beijing has a growing ambition to thwart US naval dominance off Chinese shores. With these factors involved, mutual suspicion between Beijing and Washington is bound to increase over the next years and decades.

Analysts have proposed various foreign policy scenarios about the likelihood of a coming showdown between the two powers. However, most of those analyses – some of which are very good – neglect the Russian position. That country, which stretches from the Baltic to the Pacific and is ensconced between the West and China, is poised to play a pivotal role in a possible US-China confrontation due to its geography and military and economic capabilities.

Moscow believes the US-China conflict might enable it to advance the Russian geopolitical agenda, which has been much constrained by the Europeans and the Americans over the past three decades.

The current crisis between Russia and the West is the product of many fundamental geopolitical differences in both the former Soviet space and elsewhere. Relations are thus likely to remain stalled well into the future barring large concessions by one of the sides. The successful western expansion into what was always considered the “Russian backyard” halted Moscow’s projection of power and diminished its reach into the north of Eurasia – between fast-developing China, Japan, and other Asian countries and the technologically modern European landmass.

Russia claims that its western borders are now vulnerable because NATO and the EU are marching eastward. In fact, Russia has far more vulnerable territories, such as the North Caucasus and porous Central Asia.

In some respects, the Russians are simply spending too much of their national energies on problems with the West. Costly military modernization and the support for separatist regimes in Moldova, Ukraine, and Georgia weigh heavily on the Russian budget.

Russians can rightly question why their country is spending so much on the former Soviet space when Russia’s current borders are more in Asia. Why is the country investing so much in unsuccessfully disrupting Western influence in many parts of the former Soviet space? This point is doubly strong when one looks at a map of Russia, with its vast tracts of uncultivated and largely unpopulated Siberian lands.

Today, Europe is a source of technological progress, as are Japan and China. Never in Russian history has there been such opportunity to develop Siberia and transform it into a power base of the world economy.

Russia’s geographical position is unique and will remain so for another several decades, as the ice cap in the Arctic Ocean is set to diminish significantly. The Arctic Ocean will be transformed into an ocean of commercial highways, giving Russia a historic opportunity to become a sea power.

Chinese and Japanese human and technological resources in the Russian far east, and European resources in the Russian west, can transform it into a land of opportunity.

Russia’s geographical position should be kept in mind when analyzing Moscow’s position vis-à-vis the China-US competition. However, apart from the purely economic and geographical pull that the developed Asia-Pacific has on Russia’s eastern provinces, the Russian political elite sees the nascent US-China confrontation as offering a chance to enhance its weakening geopolitical position throughout the former Soviet space. Russians are right to think that both Washington and Beijing will dearly need Russian support, and this logic is driving Moscow’s noncommittal approach towards Beijing and Washington. As a matter of cold-blooded international affairs, Russia wishes to position itself such that the US and China are strongly competing with one another to win its favor.

In allying itself with China, Russia would expect to increase its influence in Central Asia, where Chinese power has grown exponentially since the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991. Although Moscow has never voiced official concerns about this matter, that is not to deny the existence of such concerns within the Russian political elite.

However, if Moscow chooses the US side, the American concessions could be more significant than the Chinese. Ukraine and the South Caucasus would be the biggest prizes, while NATO expansion into the Russian “backyard” would be stalled. The Middle East might be another sticking point where Moscow gets fundamental concessions – for example in Syria, should that conflict continue.

Beyond grand strategic thinking, this decision will also be a civilizational choice for the Russians molded in the perennial debate about whether the country is European, Asiatic, or Eurasian (a mixture of the two). Geography inexorably pulls Russia towards the east, but culture pulls it towards the west. While decisions of this nature are usually expected to be based on geopolitical calculations, cultural affinity also plays a role.

Tied into the cultural aspect is the Russians’ fear that they (like the rest of the world) do not know how the world would look under Chinese leadership. The US might represent a threat to Russia, but it is still a “known” for the Russian political elite. A China-led Eurasia could be more challenging for the Russians considering the extent to which Russian frontiers and provinces are open to large Chinese segments of population.

The Russian approach to the nascent US-China confrontation is likely to be opportunistic. Its choice between them will be based on which side offers more to help Moscow resolve its problems across the former Soviet space.

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Emil Avdaliani teaches history and international relations at Tbilisi State University and Ilia State University. He has worked for various international consulting companies and currently publishes articles focused on military and political developments across the former Soviet space.

BESA Center Perspectives Papers are published through the generosity of the Greg Rosshandler Family.